ENVIRONMENT Secretary Michael Gove will next month lead a global crusade against the £17billion illegal trade in wildlife which has put elephants, rhinos and tigers on the fast track to extinction.

He will host 1,000 experts, heads of Government and fellow ministers in London in a drive to stamp out poaching, take on organised crime and smother demand for items such as ivory, rhino horn, tiger skins and timber from tropical rainforests.

Adding extra urgency to the international campaign are fears that cash from the trade is used to fund terrorism in the Africa and beyond.

The wildlife smuggling underworld is huge and rated the fourth largest illegal global trade after narcotics, counterfeiting, and human trafficking.

But Traffic, which specialises in monitoring the wildlife trade, said the £17billion figure does not include illegal fisheries which could be worth another £17billion worldwide.

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Meanwhile a Government-commissioned report launched today says that Governments in regions such as the Far East can help snuff out demand for products such as ivory and rhino horns by making reporting illegal products and traders a “patriotic” duty.

The report by WWF, Traffic, Imperial College London and the University of Oxford found that in countries such as China and Vietnam a call to patriotism can have a big impact.

Britain is helping fight the poachers by sending troops to train rangers in countries such as Gabon and Malawi, passing on skills honed on the frontline in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It is also funding protection schemes for species including the critically-endangered hawksbill turtle, the helmeted hornbill and the pileated gibbon.

Rhino tusk seized in Zimbabwe (Image: TOM SODDART )

The stakes are high and time is not on our side

Environment Secretary Michael Gove

Environment Secretary Michael Gove, who has made tackling the trade a personal priority, told the Daily Express: “The stakes are high and time is not on our side.

“Wildlife crime drives species to the very edge of existence. It harms local communities and brings violence to people's lives.”

He added: “We must act or face the real possibility that future generations will know elephants only from books, photos or films ­an unthinkable prospect.”

Shocking figures from Traffic reveal the scale of the trade and the damage it is doing to endangered species.

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They include:- On average 55 elephants are being killed a day or one every 26 minutes in an African poaching bloodbath. As a result elephant populations are declining by eight per cent every year which is higher than the rate of reproduction. Tanzania alone has lost 61 per cent of its elephants since 2009 ­ a drop from 109,051 in 2009 to 43,330 in 2014.

- Rhino poaching is increasing at a dramatic rate. In 2007, 13 rhinos were poached in South Africa but by 2015 the toll reached 1,175 out of a global population of fewer than 30,000.

- One in three parrot species are facing extinction in South America, caused mainly by the illegal pet trade.

- The reclusive pangolin the world’s only scaled mammal which is found in Africa and Asia ­is the world’s most illegally-traded mammal.

Rangers at Kruger National Park in South Africa calm a rhino by covering the eyes (Image: GALLO/GETTY IMAGES )

Since 2000 a minimum of 17,000 pangolins have been trafficked globally each year. Pangolins are eaten and their scales are thought to have medicinal value.

- Rosewood is the most traded IWT plant species in the world threatening the sustainability of native populations.

- 1,755 tigers were taken between 2000 and 2015 - an average of more than two animals per week.

The poachers take the most physical risks but make the least money from the trade. For example, a poacher might get £35 for a live chimpanzee which could eventually sell for £14,000.

The London summit will build on a series of previous International Wildlife Trade conferences including the last in Hanoi which was addressed by Prince William who has championed protecting endangered species.

Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey said: “Building on the success of past summits to protect critically endangered species, the London conference marks a collective intent to work together, share learnings and forge new partnerships.

“Together, we can disrupt the criminality that is destroying flora and fauna on an unprecedented scale.”

Silent forests

Forests are falling silent around the world because so many birds are being stolen for the pet trade, British experts warned yesterday. Chester Zoo said in South East Asia alone, up to 1.3 million birds are taken from the wild each year.

It described the illegal trade in wildlife - including illegal logging and poaching for elephant ivory and rhino horn - as the fourth largest international crime in the world, worth around £17billion annually.

Today Chester Zoo will show Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey the scores of exotic birds which it has given a safe haven after they were rescued from the illegal trade. The 100 birds from 14 species were seized by customs officials in Europe as part of an international campaign.

The birds include the "near threatened" scaly-breasted bulbul from Borneo, orange-cheeked waxbills from Africa and the red avadavat from India. All the birds will join international breeding programmes coordinated by zoos and conservationists to provide a population safety net for each species.

A black-browed barbet is just one of the 14 species given a safe home by Chester Zoo (Image: CHESTER ZOO )

"We are pleased to be able to offer these beautiful, precious surviving birds a suitable home, where they will contribute to breeding programmes for threatened species - and will help to inform our zoo visitors about the illegal wild bird trade."

He added: "In South East Asia alone, up to 1.3 million birds are taken from the wild each year. The crisis has reached a tipping point with forests now falling silent."

Other birds rescued by the Zoo from the illegal trade include common waxbill from sub-Saharan Africa, fire-tufted barbet and black-browed barbet from south east Asia, and the Napoleon weaver bird from Africa.

Human greed for ivory is driving a devastating decline in elephant numbers – 20,000 are killed every year – and despite public disgust there is no let-up in the slaughter.

Last week it was reported that in one of the most sickening attacks yet mounted in Africa, more than 50 magnificent elephants were killed near a sanctuary in Botswana – a terrible blow for a country with a long and successful conservation programme.

The tusks had been hacked off and spirited away, to be sold on for vast sums by unscrupulous criminals. We must act or face the real possibility that future generations will know elephants only from books, photos or films – an unthinkable prospect.

Tackling rapidly increasing wildlife crime is a government priority. Our ban on the sale of ivory will be among the strictest in the world. But this latest attack is a grim reminder of the urgent need for further action on a global scale.

And in a month’s time, the UK will be pressing for concerted international efforts when it hosts national leaders, NGOs and conservationists at the fourth Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) Conference.

Saving the African elephant will be high on the conference agenda. Our new Ivory Alliance 2024, which I will chair, aims to cut the numbers killed for their ivory by at least a third by 2020, and to halve this rate again by 2024.

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But we will also focus on the plight of many other protected and endangered species. Over 1,000 species of animals and plants are so threatened with extinction according to Cites, an international agreement between governments, that their commercial trade is allowed only in exceptional circumstances.

Cites protects around 5,600 species of animals and 30,000 species of plants. In recent years, rare rhino, pangolins, sturgeons – even rosewood – have suffered grievously.

I’m glad to say the Government already funds a number of protection projects around the world, often aimed at lesser-known species. We know that in south-east Asia alone, up to 1.3 million birds are taken from the wild every year.

And if that sounds a long way from the UK, illegal trafficking brings the plight of rare or tropical species close to home.

Chester Zoo received some new residents – 100 exotic birds from 14 different species which were seized by customs officials in Europe. It is likely that the birds would have been sold illegally as pets, assuming they survived transportation in often squalid conditions. Instead, they will now form a crucial part of international breeding programmes.

I am delighted, too, that the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which includes Chester, has led the way on this issue with a pact calling for an end to IWT.

It’s important to realise that wildlife criminals don’t only destroy iconic species. They’re involved in serious, organised racketeering. Overall, environmental crime, including IWT, is the fifth most lucrative serious organised crime, estimated to be worth up to £17billion a year.

In this shadowy, underground world, criminals conspire with corrupt officials and agencies to undermine sustainable development and the rule of law.

Their profits are ploughed into more illegal schemes, heaping fresh misery on communities. So this year’s conference aims to identify new and effective ways to frustrate their activities.

The stakes are high and time is not on our side. Wildlife crime drives species to the very edge of existence. It harms local communities and brings violence to people’s lives. For these reasons, the conference can’t come soon enough.

I look forward to working with our partners to secure the firm support of the public, businesses, NGOs and other governments worldwide. And show that the international community is committed to fighting for the future of our most precious and endangered wildlife.